Please note: Subject headings in this paper are almost identical to those in the Simpson, Arien, Family A, Damon, and Family F papers until we get to the actual chart comparisons. That is, material under subject headings titled Introduction, Method, Mars and Saturn in Synastry, and Some Chart Definitions are nearly identical. Material thereafter, beginning with the subject heading Starting Compound Mars and Saturn Sets Between Michel and Francoise Gauquelin is unique to them.

Introduction
I have written a number of papers demonstrating the difficulty people experience who have mars and saturn influencing Angles in their charts. By "influencing" I mean they are either "on" Angles (with 2°) or they are in a set which has a light (sun/moon/node) and one of the planets in the set rules an Angle. For instance, see the paper on Financial Loss. Or see the one on Mental Retardation. I have also written papers on the good fortune experienced by those whose charts have Angular venus and jupiter. For instance, see the paper on Gurus. Or, see the one on Lottery Winners Or, just look at O.J. Simpson’s life before his wife’s death. He has venus conjunction jupiter (in Libra) on his birth 4th house cusp, that is, opposite B MC, sponsoring his fame and good fortune up to the date of his wife’s death. That is also the reason he will experience forms of good fortune right up to the time of his death. His financial misfortune began during the trial for his wife’s death when, in his 2nd chart (personal finances), he had mars, saturn, and neptune (the planets of siege conditions) forefront.

Here are links to all the synastry papers. If you want to see the greatest venus/jupiter vs. mars/saturn contrast read the Browning and Simpson papers. The links: . Comments on Synastry--Astrological Compatibility--Using This Form of Astrology

Synastry, The Astrology of Venus and Jupiter Between Charts, the Sixth Couple: Paul Newman and Joanne Woodward

Synastry, The Astrology of Venus and Jupiter Between Charts, the Fifth Couple: the D Family

Synastry, The Astrology of Mars and Saturn Between Charts, the Fifth Couple: the F Family

Synastry, The Astrology of Venus and Jupiter Between Charts, the Fourth Couple: Ronald and Nancy Reagan

Synastry, The Astrology of Mars and Saturn Between Charts, the Fourth Couple: Carol and Michael Damon and Homicide/Suicide

Synastry, The Astrology of Venus and Jupiter Between Charts, the Third Couple: Marion Davies and William Randolph Hearst

Synastry, The Astrology of Mars and Saturn Between Charts, the Third Couple: Sandra and William A. and Her Homicide

Synastry, The Astrology of Venus and Jupiter Between Charts, the Second Couple: Queen Victoria and Albert, Prince of England

Synastry, The Astrology of Mars and Saturn Between Charts, the Second Couple: David and Jonelle Arien and Homicide/Suicide

Synastry, The Astrology of Venus and Jupiter Between Charts, the First Couple: Robert and Elizabeth Barrett Browning

Synastry, The Astrology of Mars and Saturn Between Charts Using the Charts of O.J. Simpson and His Deceased Wife, Nicole

This paper is about the problems mars and saturn create when they exist in two separate charts but are conjunct, square, or opposition each other and an Angle. If I were writing about this condition within one chart, I would state mars and saturn were “in the same set.” But since here we are comparing planets in two charts (also known as synastry), I cannot call them sets. I will have to call them something else. I have chosen the term, “compound set.”

A compound set consists of planets from the charts of two individuals, that are conjunct, square, or opposition each other. Allowable orb is 2° (unless a light—sun, moon, or node—is involved, in which case the orb can go up to about 3-1/2°). Compound sets are more powerful if they contain a light (sun, moon, or node). They are most powerful when they contain either an Angle or the ruler of an Angle.

Michel Gauquelin was born in Paris, whereas Francoise was born in Neuchatel, Switzerland. I have assumed they lived together in Paris, and present locality astrology for Francoise’s chart below.

Unfortunately, data given mentions only the year of marriage as well as the year of divorce. When I have a date involving only the year, I usually progress to approximate mid-year, that is, to July 1, Year. Using those dates, below I present data on compound progressions for each for their marriage and their separation. .

The following information, on Michel, is from my data source, Astrodatabank :

French psychologist and statistician with degrees from the Sorbonne. A highly respected researcher, he began to examine astrological evidence in 1950 to determine the degree of statistical weight against chance. He and his wife, Françoise, compiled six massive volumes of data from birth records in France, Belgium and Italy. His many books include "Cosmic Clocks," 1967. \

Michel married a second, younger wife from whom he was separated when he overdosed on sleeping pills sometime between May 18 and 21. His body was found in his Paris apartment on 6/06/1991.

Considering that Michel and Francoise were famous astrologers, there was precious little information about them on the Internet. Here is the information, from Astrodatabank, on Francoise:

Swiss-French psychologist and statistician. Though skeptical of astrology, she began collaboration with Michel Gauquelin before their marriage in 1954; they had one son together before a bitter separation in 1982, divorcing in 1985. The Gauquelins became the most famous names in astrology with their work that cross over into the scientific community.

Françoise is the author of books on memory and communication, with papers on psychology published in science journals. She is Director of "Astro-Psychological Problems" magazine 1982-1995 and author of "Psychology of the planets," ACS Publications, 1982 and "Problèmes de l'heure résolus pour le monde entier," 1987.

Before we get to their synastry, I want to say something about this astrological method.

Method
This astrological method is not the traditional Western one. It is not traditional, period. True, it uses sidereal astrology, the predominant (traditional) astrology of the East. It also uses the Egyptian harmonic. Both are quite old. This method started with me in 1983. Its working rules were not inherited. They were uncovered gradually through years of research. As they were uncovered, a system which at first seemed too complex became almost too simple. Here are those rules:

Chart Rules

And here are links to my comments on the practical differences between sidereal versus tropical astrology as well as a paper discussing the origin of this method:

Tropical vs. Sidereal Astrology

About This Method

In this paper we want to look at the negative and positive synastry between two people (1) as a given between their birth charts, and, (2) at certain moments in time. The two “times” we examine for the Gauquelins are for the date of their marriage (within ± 6 months) which yields important progressed positive synastry, and the date of their divorce (within ± six months), which yields important progressed negative synastry.

For the most part I examine their negative synastry by focusing primarily on their compound sets involving mars and saturn, the lesser and greater malefics of astrology.

Their (most) positive synastry is comprised of their shared venus and jupiter sets. Venus and jupiter are, respectively, the lesser and greater benefics of astrology.

This paper, along with all the papers on difficult relationships, contains explanations for why shared mars/saturn is so difficult. For the explanation for why shared venus/jupiter is so fortunate for couples, refer to the Home Page, the links on the couples the Robert Brownings, the Ronald Reagans, Queen Victoria and Prince Albert, and Randolph Hearst and Marion Davies, and the D Family.

Mars and Saturn in Synastry
Mars and saturn in the same compound set produce one of the most difficult synastry situations that exist between two people. Here I have used the synastry of a couple, but these sets work the same among any two people—boss and employee, siblings, parent and child, friends, co-workers, and so on.

In astrology, mars is the symbol for aggression, assertion, cutting, tearing, breaking down, martial, penetrating, and so on. Saturn is the symbol that represents our deepest fears and our least understood limitations. Saturn also stands for deficiency, want, deprivation, darkness, depression, crystallization, sterility, and old age. In old age we become brittle and crystallized, i.e., unable or unwilling to change our ways. In youth, our crystallization (that is, fragility, rigidity, vulnerability) as it is represented by saturn is hidden deep in our personality where it was unconsciously cast during our early childhood. Generally, we are not aware of it, nor do we want to know it exists.

For the purpose of discussion about compound sets, let’s call the individual who contributes mars to the set the “mars individual,” and the one who contributes saturn, the “saturn individual.” It should be easy to see from the defining words used for mars and saturn that when they operate between two individuals some one (the saturn individual) is going to feel aggressed—cut and penetrated—in the most vulnerable, least understood part of his psyche. It almost always starts out that the mars individual inadvertently steps on the delicate toes of the saturn individual. This can go on for a long time (years), but not forever. Eventually the saturn individual “rises up” and figuratively, if not literally, flattens the mars person. At that point, the mars individual can wonder, “what did I do to deserve this?” The mars individual had seen his aggression as “natural” and the other individual’s sometimes apparent discomfort as “weakness.” Seen it, that is, if he has bothered to notice it at all. He wasn’t intending harm, he was just “being himself.” After all, what are you supposed to do if by just being yourself you are making another individual uncomfortable—stop being yourself?

When two individual share more than one compound mars/saturn set interaction gets tricky, indeed. Then the same individual can be both aggressor and the victim, depending on which set she is operating out of at the time.

My understanding of compound mars/saturn sets comes from experience as well as research. With this series of papers, we are presently engaged in finding out if those long, drawn out, bitter divorces we read and hear about (hopefully nothing more) between two people have an “excess” of compound mars/saturn sets between them. And how many sets mean an excess. One? Two? But experience allows me to write something right now on the subject.

When two individuals share one or more compound mars/saturn sets, we have happened upon the astrological situation in which each individual believes himself sincerely in the right as well as sincerely wronged by the other individual. Each tells himself or herself that it would take little for the other individual to make things “right” or stop doing the offensive behavior. Each believes the other individual, therefore, meanly holding out. Each is in pain. Each ends up believing the other individual is fortuitously augmenting that pain. This leads to endless mutual recriminations, both imaginative and verbal. And, of course, it can escalate to violence.

One can live with another with whom they share a compound mars/saturn. It happens, unfortunately, between some parents and their children. Too, it happens among couples when they also share strong positive sets. The positive sets provide the motivation—the liking, loving, pleasure, comfort, laughter, highs—to be together. At first, the quarrels, hurt feelings, and rifts sponsored by the mars/saturn set are ignored or patched up quickly. In fact, healing the rift provides the couple with some fairly dramatic experiences of intimacy, convincing them of the depth of their attachment. The “good” feels really good especially when compared with how awful the “bad” feels. As time goes on, however, healing is less pleasurable and their differences become more painful, more irreconcilable. Unresolved differences lead to the accumulation of bad feelings, resentment, secrecy, and hermetically closed individuals.

At the beginning of relationships we all tend to put our best foot forward, emphasizing the positive both consciously and unconsciously. With couples who fall in love, their fairy tale happiness is helped along by the strong positive astrology active when they met. So, it is not surprising no one wants to welcome discord when and if it happens. No one wants to see herself the snarly, defensive, child-like partner that is represented by a wounded saturn individual.

Even if a married couple did not start out with a compound mars/saturn set, they are together so long that sooner or later they usually experience some through progressions. When that happens, the pain starts with the saturn individual experiencing the previously loving spouse as thoughtless, insensitive, crude, and possibly even cruel. Mutual blame, anger, resentment, and even disbelief begin to accumulate. But, since the condition came about through progressions, it will pass and the relationship be restored. From the point of view of the individuals experiencing it, their temporary pain was a fluke in a usually good relationship. And, since they did not start out with the problem, they would be right. They experienced as passing a difficult condition which some couples experience continuously as part of their life together.

So, it is difficult enough for a relationship to survive intact through a progressed mars/saturn set. It is best not to go into a relationship which starts out with strong one because it will, in time, inevitably be increased by a progressed mars/saturn set (or more).

Couples who start out with a mars/saturn set which is not forefront (not on an Angle nor consisting of planets ruling either of their Angles) can experience it becoming forefront in several ways. It can occur through progressed Angles. It can also occur through a change in locality. With the latter, either (or both) may provide locality Angles which fit into the previously background mars/saturn set. Further, locality Angles may coincide with new, progressed mars/saturn sets.

Some Chart Definitions
In the tables below, b stands for birth, c stands for conception, and p for progressed. T stands for transiting. A number following the letters identifies the harmonic chart from which the harmonic planet was taken, e.g., b7 pluto identifies the harmonic of pluto for the 7th chart. All harmonics used are +2 greater than the number of the chart they are applied to. Therefore, the harmonic used for the 7th chart is the ninth, or novienic, harmonic.

MC stands for Midheaven while Asc stands for Ascendant. B-Loc identifies the locality chart for birth, while C-Loc identifies the locality chart for conception. Reasonably, then, pB-Loc MC identifies the progressed locality Midheaven for birth while pC-Loc Asc identifies the progressed locality Ascendant for conception.

Angles and House Cusps for Michel and Francoise
I usually include house cusps in the drawings of partial charts I put in papers. However, these papers on synastry do not include drawings, so below I submit information on house cusps for the Gauquelins.

House Cusps for Michel:
Placidus: C MC—12 Sagittarius 24, c11—2Cap, c12—30Cap, C Asc—20 Pisces 34, c2—1Tau, c3—24Tau B MC—7 Aries 15, b11—16Tau, b12—23Gem, B Asc—21 Cancer 59, b2—11Leo, b3—5Vir

House Cusps for Francoise:
Placidus: C MC—22 Gemini 38, c11—27Can, c12—26Leo, C Asc—19 Virgo 28, c2—16Lib, c3—17Sco B MC—22 Capricorn 25, b11—22Aqu, b12—5Ari, B Asc—22 Taurus 57, b2—13Gem, b3—1Can

Now we can look at some of the 7th chart synastry in the compound sets which existed between these two famous astrologers, Michel and Francoise Gauquelin.

Starting Compound Mars/Saturn Sets Between Michel and Francoise
By “starting sets” I mean sets that existed between their charts prior to any progressions.

The Gauquelins started with one strong compound mars/saturn set. I wanted to break this into two sets, but the presence of an Angle and three lights increases orb, making one set (with the largest orb between his moon and his b saturn equal to 4° 36’). :

Set (1) is made forefront by her B Asc. None of the other planets rules Angles.

We can also see Set (1) as containing Francoise’s sun/venus/mars (a set promoting strong sexuality) which strongly interacts with all three of Michel’s saturns, the worst being the conjunction of his c7 saturn with her c mars in Taurus. She would come on far too strong for him. Ultimately, he would find a way—not necessarily consciously—to dampen and discourage such behavior.

During the time of their marriage Francoise’s c saturn (starting at 19 Scorpio 14) progressed to join Set (1). It was at 23 Scorpio 14 in the year of their separation—opposing her own Asc and symbolizing a deadly darkness, the burden (her p saturn/her Angle) of her marriage.

Set (1) does contain one benefic—venus. But it is no match the intense insecurity and unconsciousness of all that saturn. Francoise’s feelings (venus) and love (venus) would have been shriveled by Michel’s apparent lack of receptivity. It may be important to point out that it is that area of his chart—around 20-25° of the fixed signs—that Michel is not receptive. For him that area is a kind of dead, non-receiving spot, represented by his three saturns..

Set (1) was their one starting compound mars/saturn set. They several more difficult sets worth including here.

His c moon is in both Set (1) and (2), but I did not want to combine them because I think they tend to operate as two sets. Here we see a reverse of something in Set (1)—his light/venus is contacted by her saturn.

This is their third set which contains saturn to light/venus, the second in which his light/venus contacts her saturn.

Set (3) became a major negative set when his birth mars, starting retrograde at 15 Gemini 32 reached 3° of Gemini, hitting her sun/saturn in those same degrees. With her saturn ruling B MC, and his mars ruling his B MC, at that point—the early 1970s—they had a second compound mars/saturn set with influence to two Angles.

Let’s take a closer look at that progressing mars:

Because the sun and node increase orb of influence, we could say that his progressing mars created a valid (experienced) compound mars/saturn set with Set (3) above at least from 1970 through 1974.

That progressed set, however, did not exist when they separated, which was in 1982. The early 1970s must have been a difficult time for them, but their marriage survived it.

They separated on the formation of a different compound mars/saturn set.

Second Progressed Compound Mars/Saturn Set
At the time of their separation, the Gauquelins had a different compound mars/saturn set (I did not look at the data for their divorce, which occurred about three years later):

Set (4), minus the last line (in bold), is what they started with. It contains three Angles and influences a fourth through his b7 mars, ruler of his B MC. With influence to four Angles, it played a big role in their relationship. Before it was hit by progressing saturn, and as long as he wasn’t threatened by her aggressiveness, this set likely reflected part of their mutual sexual attraction (mars/venus).

Set (4) became a serious problem, however, when his pc7 saturn (coming from 25 Taurus 56 at birth) entered it. At that point, it constituted their second compound mars/saturn set. Let’s take a look at the movement of that progressing saturn:

Michel’s progressing c7 saturn entered Set (4) above at least by 1972 (depending on the orb we allow), when it was at 17 Gemini 32. It was still there by 1981, the year before their separation. In fact, as it turned out, it turned stationary retrograde in 1984 at 18 Gemini 36.

Therefore, we can see that the Gauquelins were under the influence of three compound mars/saturn sets at least from the years 1972 through 1974, at which point one of the progressed ones [Set (3)] went out of orb. But the other, very powerful set [Set (4)] continued in force up to 1991—through his separation, through his divorce, and right up to the time Michel killed himself. At that time, he was separated from his second wife, so these compound sets were not affecting him. They would, however, have prevented any chance of friendship, or even “letting go” with his first wife, Francoise, mother of his only child.

Unfortunately, I do not have birth data on Michel’s second wife.

Looking at it from the point of Michel's chart alone, he had a near conjunction of his b7 mars at 19 Gemini 51 and his pc7 saturn at 18 Gemini 15R (at the time of his death) in his c 4th house, the place where lighted mars/saturn influence exists at death. He killed himself between May 18 and May 21, 1991. On May 19, transiting uranus was at 18 Sagittarius 48, while transiting harmonic North Node was at 20 Pisces 38—approaching Set (4). Lighted mars/saturn in the 4th of suicides appears to foster their conviction that their life is over.

Looking at other conditions in Michel’s chart at the time of his death, we have to take into consideration his was a European birth. Like most European births, time of birth was recorded to the nearest 15 minutes of time. This is good for giving us a dependable approximate time of birth, but not at all for progressing Angles to planets and vice versa. Since the latter are all-important in each individual's experience of his life, we operate at a definite disadvantage when trying to understand an individual's experience at any given time. Time given, however, appears close. On May 19, 1991 (date of death) he had progressed B Asc at 9 Virgo 50 in late square to b7 saturn at 9 Gemini 28 in c 4th house. pC Asc was at 15 Gemini 44 in conjunction with b mars at 15 Gemini 32 in c 4th house. Progressed mars and saturn to Angles is always very difficult. It does not, however, mean the individual must die. At the same time, it always occurs with death. Symbolically, it shows the stress the individual is under (whether with a difficult life, or through dying). Of course, dying is not always painful. When Angle/mars/saturn symbolizes an accepted and beneficial natural death it stands for the breaking (mars) of the golden cord (saturn is where we start our personal incarnation).

But Michel had a third progression at the time of his suicide which would have turned a painful time into one of pain and panic:

Moon in Pisces does not go well with uranus in Pisces. Research shows that by itself uranus is difficult in Pisces. Uranus is associated with surprises, and Pisces is often correlated with painful, often very private, suffering. Put with the moon, Michel's uranus was always lighted. Since his moon ruled his B Asc, this set was always active or in the near background. He was always "ready" to feel threatened by events and conditions which came out of nowhere and over which he felt he had no control. When progressing mars hit it, he would have felt devastated. His worst fears had come true. Here “devastated” is just a word, but as an experience, it means in all likelihood he felt he had lost all the parameters of his existence.

I have written several other papers about suicide. Here are their links: The Suicide of Robin Williams, The Subway Suicide of a 9 Year Old Boy, The Suicide of a 14 Year Old Girl, Vivienne, The Late Life Suicide of Author and Concentration Camp Survivor, Primo Levi, Search for Eric Douglas in the Paper on Homosexuality, The Suicide of a Woman with Asperger's Syndrome, The Suicide of Chief of Naval Operations, Mike Boorda. The Suicide of Carter Cooper. And, of course, Eric Harris, though also a mass murderer, committed suicide. Here is the link to that paper: Paper on Eric Harris.

What Drew Them Together?
The Gauquelins had two positive sets I consider important, one of which was a compound golden benefic (venus/jupiter) set. :

Set (a) shows influence to two Angles—her B-Loc MC, and her B Asc through its ruler, b venus. So for Francoise, the set was already forefront before she met Michel. On the other hand, his c sun did provide a light, and together they did share a compound light/venus/jupiter. At the time of their marriage, in 1954, her progressed C MC, at 17 Cancer 55, also fit into Set (a).

When their relationship started, before progressions developed two more compound malefic (mars/saturn) sets, the Gauquelins had one compound dark malefic and one compound golden benefic, with the benefic set having influence to one more Angle than the malefic. Also, when we start relationships, we tend to put our emphasis on our mutual harmony, choosing to shelve all signs of disagreement and discord, so they would have been paying more attention to their compound benefic. The discord from Set (1), however, was not about the disappear by being ignored. Over time it would not only have caused discord and alienation, it would also have chipped away at the benefits provided by their compound golden benefic. Then their progressed dark malefics in the early 1970s would have tipped the balance in their relationship.

Their other positive set would have started their relationship with pleasurable discussion and genuine attraction, especially of Michel for Francoise (it is his venus conjunct her moon. Not only that, but it showed a certain amount of genuinely shared interest (both had moons in Scorpio, but his do not show in the set below):

Michel’s c neptune rules his C Asc, so this set has Angular influence. It would have combined with their compound golden benefic to make them feel that had something worth turning into a marriage.

The only thing I hold against Set (b) is that venus combined with neptune tends to turn love into something precious. That is all right as long as the relationship stays together, but when it ends, the person with the venus/neptune (Michel) likely feels a lot of pain in his heart.

Locality Angles
I inserted Francoise’s important locality Angles in Sets (2), (4) and (a) above.

Conclusion
We have seen above that the Gauquelins started, before progressions, with one compound mars/saturn set and one compound venus/jupiter set. The former was strong containing three saturns and one progressed one (at the time of separation). It did contain one benefic, but it was venus, which was simply stomped by all that mars/saturn.

Francoise contributed all the benefics to the golden benefic (one of which ruled an Angle). As long as Michel’s c sun was the only light for this compound set, his was a valid contribution to its effectiveness. However, when Francoise moved to Paris she acquired a locality Angle which entered the set. While a ruler of an Angle has no capacity to act like a light (except mercury when it rules an Angle), an Angle itself also has a light-like quality. That is, when planets are on Angles they express well enough without lights. The presence of lights just makes them express even more strongly.

I did not present the data for them, but the Gauquelin’s had two additional compound golden benefics at the time of the marriage in 1954. That, of course, makes sense. When people marry they usually have a number of forefront benefic sets as well as some progressed connection between venus and jupiter. As all people who marry know, however, that honeymoon does not last forever. When it is over, what they started out with becomes exceptionally important in how well it promotes their continuing marriage.

That one strong compound mars/saturn set the Gauquelin started with became a marital liability when they experienced one, then two more progressed compound mars/saturn sets. For at least 10 years leading up to their separation in 1982, they were under the influence of their starting compound mars/saturn set and a very powerful progressed one (which also contributed to his mars/saturn conjunction in his 4th house). So far with these papers, we have not seen any couple whose marriage survived two strong, long-term mars/saturn sets.

Discussion
Although other astrological factors play a role in determining the quality of a relationship, the synastry of mars/saturn and venus/jupiter between charts cover the range from very difficult to very harmonious. In that sense, they are good indices of failed and successful relationships.

Summing for the eleven couples written about so far, starting with the harmonious relationships:

Since neither of their malefic sets influenced an Angle, the troubles represented by them tended to stay in the background even when a progressing light entered either set.

All of their benefic sets contain lights, and all but one of them [Set (5)] influences at least one of their Angles.

Queen Victoria and her Prince started with zero compound malefic sets and seven compound benefic ones, at least one of which approached being a compound golden benefic.

Robert Browning and Elizabeth Barrett Browning started with one weak compound mars/saturn set (it did not contain a light and had no influence to Angles). They started with eight compound benefic sets, one of which was compound golden benefic. (This number does not include any progressions or their locality Angles for Florence.)

Ronald and Nancy Reagan started with three compound golden benefics (two of them with Angular influence) and another comprised of Angle/moon/venus. They had one compound dark malefic with was both Angular and lighted. Because of the presence of venus, however, this set could have been functioning as a more “staid” compound benefic. They had no other compound malefics. Their marriage, which lasted 52 years, was strong and loving (in spite of very difficult circumstances for those last years) right up to his death from Alzheimer’s disease. Their love, I’m sure, continues on.

David and Cheri D. fell in line with other couples who share the experience of having had a happy marriage (now going on 39 years for them). They started with two compound golden benefics plus several compound light/venus and Angle/jupiter sets. In contrast to that, they started with one weak compound mars/saturn set which also contained venus and jupiter, which ought to considerably soften the harder parts of the set.

Going on to the difficult if not disastrous relationships:

David Arien killed his wife, Jonelle, and then himself. They started with four compound mars/saturn sets—before progressions, and before locality Angles. In earlier papers I referred to mars/saturn sets as dark malefics. I am not happy with the term but use it to represent, so-to-speak, the “opposite” of golden benefic.

O.J. and Nicole Brown Simpson started with two compound mars/saturn sets, one lighted and both with Angular influence. They experienced a confluence of them (four) through progressions and locality Angles at the time of her death. All four influenced at least one Angle, often more. They started with two very weak compound benefic sets. A third compound benefic was strong—Nicole’s San Francisco locality Angles picking up O.J.’s venus/jupiter.

The A’s started out with two very strong and one weak compound mars/saturn sets. It is doubtful any relationship, regardless of strength of benefic sets, can find the right path with that much affliction. They had a fourth, progressed compound mars/saturn set at the time of her death. His chart supplied both the mars and saturn, but their conjunction to her moon (as well as her death) let us know that she, too, was experiencing their malevolence.

Their compound benefic sets gave us a little more information on their relationship. Three of his venuses (and only one jupiter) were involved in compound sets. All four of her jupiters (and only one of her venuses) were. Attraction (venus) was stronger on his side. Forbearance (jupiter) was stronger on hers. Even had they had no compound malefic sets, forbearance alone is not enough to make a good relationship. With their four compound malefics, good will (jupiter) did not stand a chance.

The fourth afflicted couple, the Damons, started with two compound mars/saturn sets (independent of locality) with influence to three Angles (one of the same ones twice). At the time of their death, it could be said they had acquired tighter and more influential sets such that they had three compound mars/saturn sets with influence to six Angles.

The fifth afflicted couple, Stephen and Barbara F., started with two compound mars/saturn sets, each with lights and multiple influence to Angles, that is, they were strong. They also shared an important negative set containing only saturn. By contrast, they started with one compound golden benefic and only one noteworthy Angle/jupiter set. They actually had two mutually receptive moon/venus sets, normally considered positive for relationship, but these were part of one of their compound mars/saturn sets. Moon/venus is not going to fare as positively in the same set with mars/saturn as it does alone (moon/jupiter would do much better).

The sixth afflicted couple, the Gauquelins, started with one of each—one compound mars/saturn set and one compound venus/jupiter set. At one point (the early 70s) in their marriage, through progressions they had three compound mars/saturn sets. At the time of their separation, they had two, one by progression. That progressed one was changing so slowly that, in effect, it was not a passing set, but a “permanent” one, as it was in effect not only for their separation and their divorce, it was still in effect when Michel died by his own hand in 1991 following his separation from his second wife.

With this 11th chart on couples examining the synastry of the Gauquelins, we continue to get strong separation of happy couples from unhappy couples that correlates with emphasis on compound benefics for the former and emphasis on compound malefics for the latter. Put another way, it appears that even if a couple lacks a compound golden benefic, that has less to do with the survival of the marriage than sharing one or more strong compound mars/saturn sets has to do with its destruction.

Star Flower, a rare 7-petaled flower
From Wildflowers of Michigan Field Guide, by Stan Tekiela

Contact the author at sleeweidner@yahoo.com